Every profession, or at least every profession worth being in, has its own lingo. Jargon. Slang. It might be idiosyncratic, but it serves a purpose: relaying information in a clear, quick, and concise way that is often indecipherable to outsiders.
Lots of folks are familiar with police, marine, and military slang, but firefighters also use lots, and some of it is downright funny. Below are our favorite pieces of funny firefighter slang sure to get a chuckle out of you.
Pipeman
Depending on the department and the region, this is a term used to refer to a firefighter that remains with the engine or one that’s running the hose to the fire.
Barman
Any firefighter who is engaged in forcible entry to gain access to a structure for the purposes of rescue or fighting the blaze. The barman will use “irons,” forcible entry tools including a Halligan bar and axe.
Smoke Eater
Term of endearment that refers to a highly competent or veteran firefighter. Not to be confused with smokejumper.
Chauffeur
Term that describes the engineer, or driver, of a fire engine. Typically used only for a designated driver, as other engineers might be assigned to run and manage the pumps of the fire engine.
Rattlepan
A cook. Derived from the term rattling the pans, as in “who do we have rattling the pans today?” Often used neutrally; there are good rattlepans and bad ones!
Mood Hoover
A firefighter with a bad, negative, dour, and generally miserable attitude. Synonymous with fun sponge, a person that sucks the fun out of everything. Good day or bad, a mood hoover will always drive the vibe even lower.
Stretching / Stretchin’
To work a fire. Derived from stretching out hoses and lines. Can be used in a variety of ways: “we were stretching all day yesterday.” “Dude, we were really stretching on that call!”
Tip
The nozzle of the hose. The jokes write themselves.
Nozzle Jockey
The firefighter assigned to directly manage, or wrangle, the nozzle of the hose. Often difficult and exhausting work, especially for large-bore, high-flow hoses.
Bomber
Colloquial term for a firefighting aircraft that drops water or chemicals. A water bomber. Frequently used by Australian firefighters.
Doing It
A memetic term used to describe working hard on a fire, working a complex fire, or performing tasks exceptionally well or competently. Taken from the movie Backdraft.
If firefighters are putting in hard work on a difficult fire, their fellows might say they are “doin’ it.” The same firefighters might remark they were “really doing it” on that last call.
Jake
The origin and meaning of this term are nebulous and vary considerably depending on regional usage. Alternately means a good firefighter, a poor firefighter, or any firefighter. Use with discretion unless you are in the know; you might be insulting someone!
Buggy
The vehicle driven by the fire chief or ranking fire officer. This term comes from the olden days when the same personnel would drive a horse-drawn buggy.
Meat Wagon
Firefighter term for an ambulance. A bit of gallows humor, but it does make sense!
Woo-Woo
Refers to an actual firefighter, typically a volunteer firefighter, who cannot resist telling anyone and everyone who will listen that they are engaged in the trade. Stereotypically wears “high moto” shirts, hats, and other apparel. Sometimes used to refer to a person who is a huge fan of firefighters but isn’t one.
Tom Marlowe practically grew up with a gun in his hand, and has held all kinds of jobs in the gun industry: range safety, sales, instruction and consulting, Tom has the experience to help civilian shooters figure out what will work best for them.